Bailiffs help please

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Can bailiffs take work tools and van that they have clamped outside the property? Van worth nothing, tools are "chippy" tools he needs for work. Citizens advice website says they can't take anything work tools wise under the value of £1500 but bailiff saying that is incorrect information on their website.

He also has mental health which they don't believe and are saying they will sit outside until he prove it. He can prove it but on via his gp which obviously can't be done in an hour.

Please advice would be great.

His parents have been in talks with her parents (yes it's that stupid) to come to a settlement figure since the court date and to get this debt paid . He's told the court repeatedly that he has no money to pay and is waiting on a settlement.

He can't set up a payment plan with no money and has exhausted his options to borrow from parents. There is no money to borrow!

Also if he plans to settle it in full with his divorce settlement why can’t he explain that to them and give them a rough date?

At this point I am surprised they haven’t taken the van yet

Surely he could just explain that you can’t pay anything today but can on X date after the divorce settlement? That is still a payment plan

He has and they aren't interested

OP, there will be a kind of grace period between when they take his possessions and when they will sell them to set them off against the debt. You seemed very sure, earlier, that his divorce settlement would be through next week or in the next few weeks. If so, he should be able to reclaim them then.

There is also an option where the goods are sort of confiscated as surety - so legally, they would be no longer your DP's and he couldn't sell them- but would be permitted to remain with him in the interim, so he could still work etc But all of this depends on your DP establishing a good rapport etc with the enforcement officers. I would be very surprised, though, by now, if they will agree to go leaving everything in place and without setting up a payment plan.

And yes, mh issues can mean people avoid dealing with problems: your DP has my sympathy. Unfortunately, though, this issue has now come home to roost, and sympathy won't help him. There's been some good advice on this thread (alongside some rank advice) but he needs to call someone like Stepchange or Christians Against Poverty asap, even with the bailiffs there, to get some tailored advice for his situation.

Well if he has no money and can't borrow any he may as well let them come in and take his goods. He can then replace them when his divorce settlement comes through.

Sorry if that sounds harsh but you have received some good advise and seem to be just ignoring it or finding reasons why it can't be done.

Apologies if this has already been suggested. Would his employer or one of his colleagues be able to lend him the tools to do his job? Then he could let the bailiffs take his ones and at least that will get rid of them for a while.

I've suggested to him that he somehow contacts his ex and tells her she will have to settle the debt and then take it off the settlement when it comes. That seems the easiest way possible although I'm sure he'll pay for doing that but it's desperate times.

agree with Rocinante1 this will not go away and needs to be dealt with to avoid the debt getting bigger.

The problem is that everyone says they have health problems. Everyone says they have no money. Everyone asks for more time to pay. Or that they have a lump sum coming.

Sometimes it's true. Mostly it isn't. If companies believed everything they were told, they would never recover anything and go out of business.

Ultimately the money is owed. And at present your partner has no time specific plan to pay. It's not like he's waiting for a cheque to clear. He's waiting for some money that his Ex might pay him. But where is that money coming from? Sale of property? How has it been agreed? Are there signed docs? Court order? Where's the evidence? Is there any defined timescale about when it will be paid? What is there to stop his Ex taking another 6 months to pay him? Or what if she says she hasn't got the money?

You keep saying how he was walked all over in court but also that it is a joint debt and his ex is also responsible. Was she not in court, what was said to her. Was the debt split and she is somehow keeping up her payments so this is just his payments?

The whole thing is stressing me out and making me anxious now. I have his dc at my house with my dc and he is trying to get hold of his ex via god knows who to see if she will settle it and take it off the settlement.

You've been asked a few times 'did he mention his mental health in the court case'.

Did he?

It's a complicated situation but they both signed a contract when they were still together years ago but due to the company and a pisstake he forfeited the contract when they split and got himself into trouble and the company wanted their money. He argued their wrong doing but unfortunately a contract had been signed. He kept her out of it because it was his actions not hers that got him into trouble and that's why he's paying the debt and not asking her for half of it. It's so drawn out and complicated and doing my head in. I've helped as much as I can but now my hands are tied.

Yes he did mention it repeatedly to both the court and the original company

So they've clearly not taken it in to account.

Mental health problems don't mean you can run up a debt and not pay it. Unless it's specific to an overspending issue.

Maybe he needs you to be a bit firmer with him.

I say this as someone who's run up an enormous debt myself, mostly due to MH problems.

I paid it all back though, never occurred to me not to.

That sounded harsh. I know first hand how scary it is. But he needs to take positive action, it's too late for him to get out of it now and he needs to to tell him so.

He needs you.

He didn't "run up a debt" so to speak. The company wanted money (which to be fair they were taking the piss in this situation) and despite trying to argue it and get information out of them, the company ignored it all and just took him to court. The court did take some things into consideration but because a contract was signed it was a no win situation.

So he didn't run up a debt and then just not pay it. It's been ongoing for years fighting it and the court date was only at the beginning of this month. So he hasn't ignored it he's been fighting it but unfortunately lost the case.

Of course he has run up a debt if he hasn't paid. If he signed a contract and then stopped paying then that is running up debt. It sounds very much like he is running away from his responsibility.

What did the company want money for?
What contract did he/they sign?

It's too outing to reveal specifics but it wasn't something they were paying then stopped paying. It was something they would get paid for after if they fulfilled their end of the contract but they were dodgy and lying by saying they fulfilled things they didn't actually do hence why my dp wanted out of the contract and fought it for years when the company still wanted their full money.

Are the bailiffs still there?
Bailiffs will not walk away until something is in place. This is the point if their job! When does your DP next need his van and tools?
Is the debt related to a work contract? Sorry these questions may have already been answered I haven't read the whole thread.

If the company had fulfilled their end of the bargain then dp would have paid them their money. I wish I had been around in the early days to help and then it wouldn't have got this far. I feel totally drained today and this has taken its toll.

Dp is still trying to get hold of his ex and I'm here playing Barbie dolls with his little girl!